Civil registration in Greenland

Greenland has the status of a territory with home rule within the Commonwealth of the Realm: Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Citizens in Greenland are covered by the rules for civil registration contained in the Central Register of Persons Act, which is administered by the CPR office in Denmark and the municipalities in Greenland.   

You will need a civil registration number, also called a ‘CPR number’, in many contexts when you live in Greenland – for example if you want to open a bank account, make an appointment with a doctor, pay tax/claim tax exemption, or set up a phone account, etc.

If you are a Nordic citizen, you are covered by an agreement on inter-Nordic relocation, as Greenland is covered by the agreement between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on civil registration. The national register in your home country will therefore automatically be informed when you register with the national register in Greenland.   

You will be registered with the national register and receive a civil registration number when you are registered as having immigrated to Greenland. You do this by filling in an immigration form at your local public service centre in the municipality within five days of moving to Greenland. You can find your local public service centre via the Sullissivik portal (in Danish).

You are entitled to be registered as a resident if you are staying in Greenland for at least three months, and you have a place to live or a permanent place of residence.

It is important to note that your Danish/Greenlandic civil registration number in Greenland does not entitle you to free medical care and hospital stays in Denmark, the rest of the Nordic region or the EU.

It may be a good idea to get a residence certificate. The residence certificate will function as your medical card if you are in contact with the health services in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Finland or Iceland. Once you are registered with the national register, you can obtain a residence certificate (for a fee) from your local public service centre. You can also print out a certificate free of charge at Sullissivik.   

If you are working in Greenland, you can obtain a civil registration number even if you are not registered with the national register.  

You will need the civil registration number in connection with tax payment.  

In order to get a “tax registration number”, you should contact the Tax Agency in Greenland, SKAT, and bring:  

• Personal ID
• Documentation showing that you have a residence in another country
• An employment contract with information on your salary and period of employment
• Your work and residence permit, if any